LATROBE, PA – Thanks to a summer internship, Maura Jodkin, a junior environmental science major at Saint Vincent College, presented a research poster in December 2025 at the Student Symposium on the Environment at Westminster College in New Wilmington.
The research poster was a result of Jodkin’s internship from May-June 2025 on local water quality issues alongside Dr. Peter Smyntek, an associate professor of environmental education and biological science in the Herbert W. Boyer School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Computing at the College. Jodkin’s presentation was titled “Factors affecting phosphate release from mine drainage-impacted stream sediments.”
“I’m going to eventually do my master’s either in public health or environmental health,” Jodkin said, “so [Smyntek] was trying to find me something related to that, but those [internships] are really hard to find.”
Smyntek noted that he was conducting water research over the summer and felt that those studies related to Jodkin’s interests. She jumped at the opportunity.
Samples were taken during spring 2025 from Fourmile Run, located north of Beatty County Road in Unity Township, and Jacks Run, located in the vicinity of the Greater Greensburg Wastewater Treatment Plant along U.S. Route 119 in Hempfield Township.
“We saw a lot of wildlife, and I got to hold a baby snapping turtle,” Jodkin said with a smile. “That may have been the highlight of my summer, actually.”
Water samples were placed into jars, then transported back to the lab at the College. Researchers conducted a wide range of tests, including field pH assessments, and measured for oxygen saturation and field alkalinity.
This research focuses on the interactions between two major types of water pollution in our area: abandoned mine drainage and phosphate nutrients that mainly come from agricultural fertilizers and treated wastewater.
“We know that iron will bond to the phosphate to pull it out of the water,” Jodkin said, “but we weren’t sure if you raise the pH like it’s happening in so many streams, whether that phosphate would detach from the iron and flow downstream, which can cause algal blooms, things like that.”
The researchers discovered that increased pH levels in streams can lead to the release of phosphate nutrients that are normally removed from the water by iron/rust precipitates from the mine drainage when these two forms of water pollution interact. This has implications for ongoing remediation of abandoned mine drainage pollution.
Smyntek and Jodkin were assisted by Eli Duvall, a sophomore environmental chemistry and engineering double major of Mount Pleasant.
In 2024, Smyntek was assisted by Trenten Ferree, a senior organismal biology major of Greensburg, and Josh Hartner, C’25, of Sutersville, who majored in cell and molecular biology. They collected samples from Brush Creek and Fourmile Run. Smyntek and the four research assistants are credited as co-authors of the research poster.
“Maura is an inquisitive and diligent researcher who enjoys sharing her interest and enjoyment of the natural environment with others,” Smyntek said.
Jodkin presented the preliminary results of the study at the Student Symposium on the Environment, an event hosted each December by Westminster College to highlight environmental study, research, artistic expression, internships and service work being conducted by students in the region. The symposium was attended by more than 140 college and high school students and included students from 12 regional colleges and universities.
Jodkin, a 2023 graduate of Plum Senior High School in Allegheny County, knew from a young age that she wanted to pursue a career in environmental science.
“I just always loved being outside and in nature,” she said.
That love has been nurtured by a variety of offerings at Saint Vincent College, including an opportunity for Jodkin to dive into a work study at the Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve, assisting with animal care, field trips and manning the front desk. As a sophomore, Jodkin enrolled in General Biology Laboratory II. Dr. Michelle Duennes, an assistant professor of biological science in the Boyer School, later asked Jodkin to serve as her teaching assistant in the lab.
Jodkin helped younger students master a variety of basic lab techniques, including use of micropipettes, correctly culturing bacteria and proper cleanup habits. She also serves as a tutor, a love borne during her high school years when she mentored students in a special needs program. “I loved doing that,” Jodkin recalled, “and then I got to college and I really wanted to be a tutor.”
Working with younger students at Saint Vincent has paid off in dividends for Jodkin, who enjoys the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction that comes with helping others. “It makes me feel good getting to know them and it’s a great way to get to know the younger students,” she said. “They have really good ideas and they like learning, so that’s always fun.”
The junior environmental science major also serves on the Biology Student Leadership Council, comprised of students from the different biology majors who help during recruitment days. She has participated in panel discussions in the Sis and Herman Dupré Science Pavilion, educating prospective students on what it’s like to attend the College.
“Maura is a very enjoyable person to talk with as she has a wide range of interests that go beyond her environmental science major,” Smyntek said.
That wide range of interests has led Jodkin to actively embrace the College’s liberal arts values: the Plum native has declared minors in history and public health and is in the Scholar Honors Program. She has developed a deeper appreciation for history thanks to Dr. Tim Kelly, who serves as chair of the Department of History and interim director of libraries. Jodkin enrolled in a class during the fall 2025 semester focusing on Native American history and loved it. She later signed up for Society and the Environment in Global Perspective, taught by Kelly in the spring, and is focusing on the Belgian Congo and copper mining.
Looking ahead, Jodkin hopes to one day discover a research-based profession, specifically an area that focuses on the pediatric impact of environmental health and possibly international development, another area of study that has interested the Boyer School student.
“I’ve just always really loved working with kids and being with them,” said Jodkin, who in her spare time babysits and coaches young gymnastics athletes. “They’re just really vulnerable to a lot of the environmental factors when they’re developing … I would like to be able to help protect that.”
